The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s global governing organization, and its member countries’ men’s national soccer teams compete in the World Cup, also known as the FIFA World Cup. Since the first competition in 1930, the title has been given every four years, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.
The World Cup Finals are a common term for the tournament’s final round. In the Finals’ current structure, 32 national teams compete over a month at locations in the host nation (or nations). In the three years before the Finals, qualification rounds are held to choose the participating teams.
Only eight nations have claimed the coveted championship so far . Brazil is the most successful team, having won the World Cup five times. Germany and Italy are next with four titles each. Other prior champions include Uruguay (winner of the initial competition), Argentina, France, England, and Spain, each with one trophy.
How the FIFA world cup tournament originated
Soccer, or football as most people call it, was created in 1862 when Englishman J.C. Thring wrote the first set of rules for “The Simplest Game.”
Soccer, a straightforward game, traveled the world just as the British did. Soccer had already spread over the world before the end of World War I. Furthermore, it was evident that the sport required competition when 22 teams from as far away as Egypt and Uruguay participated in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Soccer quickly transitioned into a professional sport, which was at odds with the Olympics’ amateurism.
Jules Rimet and Henri Delaunay, two Frenchmen, suggested holding the World Cup every four years. Gold medalists in the Olympics in 1924 and 1928, Uruguay offered to host the first competition in 1930.
Format
Sixteen teams competed in the Finals of tournaments from 1934 to 1978, except in 1938 and 1950, with 15 and 13 teams, respectively, due to teams withdrawing after qualifying. A small percentage of the participating countries came from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, with the majority being Europe and South America. The South American and European teams typically defeated these teams with ease. There were several outliers, like as the 1950 Finals in Brazil, where the USA overcame England in what is regarded as one of the biggest upsets ever.
Up until 1982, the only teams from outside of Europe and South America to make it past the first round were the United States, which reached the semifinals in 1930; Cuba, which reached the quarterfinals in 1938; North Korea, which reached the quarterfinals in 1966, and Mexico, which reached the quarterfinals in 1970.
The Finals were increased from 24 teams to 32 teams in 1998, allowing additional teams from North America, Asia, and Africa to compete.
The Trophy
The Jules Rimet Trophy served as the World Cup’s first award. The World Cup, which was first known as “Victory” but was more often referred to as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, was officially renamed in 1946 to honor FIFA President Jules Rimet, who had voted to start the competition in 1929.
FIFA approved the Jules Rimet Trophy serving as the focal point of a stamp exhibition in London just before the 1966 World Cup in England. The award was placed on display for an hour before someone broke into its locked cabinet in broad daylight. Only the trophy, which was insured for just $50,000 yet was worth an estimated $6 million in stamps, was stolen from the display. To the humiliation of the English police, who immediately deployed more than 100 detectives to look for the cup, the tale of the theft of the most sought prize in the world made the front pages of newspapers worldwide.
Pickles, a dog in a southeast London neighborhood, found the trophy under a hedge one week after it was stolen. At the time, the dog’s owner recalled, “I noticed a bundle of wrapped newspaper. When I tore the paper, I noticed the words “Brazil 1962” in gold. (Brazil had previously won the award four years prior.) Pickles gained quick notoriety and was given a year’s supply of dog food for “his excellent service to football” by a dog food manufacturer.
A few months later, Pickles and his owner were awarded front-row tickets at London’s illustrious Wembley Stadium, where they witnessed Bobby Moore, the captain of England, raise the trophy high after his team defeated Germany 4-2 to win the title. The original trophy’s tale, however, did not end well. Brazil won the 1970 World Cup for the third time, and FIFA honored the country by handing it the Rimet trophy to keep forever. However, the cup vanished in Brazil and has never been found.
FIFA ordered a new trophy for the 1974 championships. Silvio Gazzaniga, an Italian sculptor, created it, and this is how he characterized it:
“The lines extend outward in spirals as they emerge from the base and open to the outside world. The figures of two athletes at the exhilarating moment of victory rise from the impressive dynamic tensions of the sculpture’s compact body.”
FIFA ultimately chose to refer to it as the FIFA World Cup. The award comprises 18-carat gold, is 36.8 cm (14.5 inches) high, and weighs 6.142 kg (13.54 pounds). Since 1974, the year and name of each winner have been engraved on the underside of the trophy, which has two layers of semi-precious malachite as its base.
According to reports, multiple duplicates of the trophy are being sold in America as the actual thing. The real award, however, is kept in a safe at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, and is secured with locks.
